Urban development: Jail Road, main boulevard to be made signal-free

[Salman]

LAHORE:
Two underpasses and several u-turns will be built to make Jail Road and Gulberg’s Main Boulevard signal-free corridors, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (TEPA) has been surveying the Main Boulevard, Jail Road and The Mall for the purpose, TEPA officials said.
“The agency has, however, held back its plan to turn The Mall into a signal-free road as that requires a large number of trees to be cut down and service lanes removed,” the officials said requesting anonymity.
The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) approved its budget on Tuesday, earmarking Rs1.5 billion to make Jail Road and Gulberg’s Main Boulevard signal-free corridors.
A two-way underpass will be constructed at Fawara Chowk leading to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry through Shadman Main Boulevard.
The other underpass will be built for traffic entering Main Boulevard from the Jail Road end.
Motorists exiting the Main Boulevard will use the grade route. Those going towards Jail Road from the cantonment will be diverted to a u-turn at the Main Boulevard before they land on the desired track.
Three junctions on the Main Boulevard will be abolished by building four u-turns.
At Liberty Roundabout, the traffic from Garden Town and Gaddafi Stadium will have to take a u-turn before it enters Liberty Market. The TEPA has already proposed nine u-turns on the Jail Road junction on the Canal Road.
Service lanes will be abolished on Jail Road and the Main Boulevard in areas where u-turns have been planned. The agency has converted two junctions on Ferozepur Road and Thokar Niaz Beg into signal-free roads.
The TEPA officials said the plan had been engineered to conserve most of the trees.
They said the agency had put on hold its plan to build u-turns on The Mall as a large number of trees had to be cut down for the purpose. They said service lanes on The Mall could not be abolished due to heavy traffic.
TEPA Additional Chief Engineer Khalid Alvi said that the plan to make Jail Road and Gulberg’s Main Boulevard signal-free would be discussed with the Lahore Development Authority director general in detail.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2014.